Many people contend with spine issues as a result of age, disease, and trauma, as well as congenital or acquired complications and conditions. While some of these issues can be alleviated without surgery, other issues respond better to surgery. In some cases, surgery may include installing an implant into the spine. If vertebral fusion is required, the spine implant along with bone graft or bone graft material may be used. In cases of significant spinal cord problems such as, but not limited to, multi-level spinal stenosis, the spine surgeon may recommend removal of the vertebral body as well as the disc spaces at either end to completely decompress the spinal cord and nerves. This procedure is known as a corpectomy. A corpectomy may be performed in association with some form of discectomy.
Because the vertebral body and possibly more has been removed in a corpectomy, it must be mechanically reconstructed in order to provide spinal stability. Vertebral fusion provides the necessary mechanical reconstruction. Vertebral fusion may be accomplished by using a strut or bone graft which is a piece of allograft or autograft bone that is shaped to be accommodated in the open spinal space sometimes along with anterior instrumentation to help hold the construct together, or with a manufactured component known as a cage along with bone graft material, typically from the patient's own removed vertebra. The allograft/autograft bone graft or cage holds the remaining vertebrae apart. During healing, the vertebrae grow together and fuse.
It is increasingly common to use cages rather than allograft or autograft bone since allograft or autograft bone must come from a donor or the patient. Cages made of titanium, stainless steel, or other biocompatible synthetic material have been designed. These cages, however, are deficient for various reasons.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a corpectomy implant that overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art.